WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONDUCTING TRANSACTIONS WITH OLIGOPOLISTIC ENTITIES CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [00011 This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/754,378, filed December 27, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [00021 While the acceptance of electronic payment transactions, such as credit card, debit card, and electronic settlement transactions, has become nearly universal by businesses that sell goods and services to individual consumers, electronic payment transactions are not yet universally accepted by many businesses that mainly supply goods and services to business consumers, such as restaurants, gas stations, etc. In fact, most of the business transactions between suppliers and business consumers remain invoice based, where the supplier issues an invoice to the business consumer for goods provided or services rendered based on a payment term,(e.g., 30 days net) and the business consumer pays the invoice by check. [0003] It is particularly noteworthy that most business consumers purchase their primary supplies (i.e., their primary stock in trade) through invoice based spending. Examples of primary supplies are gasoline for a gas station owner, food products for a restaurant owner, or a stock of CDs for a music store owner. These business transactions of primary supplies between business consumers and suppliers are the source of a tremendous amount of spending, because the average dollar amount for each transaction may be orders of magnitude larger than the average transaction conducted by an individual consumer. Moreover, many of the business consumers operate in business segments where only a few, concentrated suppliers provide a large portion of the primary supplies for business consumers in the segment. It follows that business consumers conversely spend a majority of their primary expenses (i.e., expenses for primary supplies) at a small number of concentrated suppliers operating in those business segments. These concentrated suppliers within a business segment may be referred to as oligopolistic business entities.
-2 100041 Thus far, many of the suppliers and business consumers have shunned the use of electronic payment methods for various reasons. Reasons why business consumers may still rely on the traditional paper-based check payments may include force of habit or perceived simplicity. 5 [0005] Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved systems and methods that encourage oligopolistic business entities to accept electronic payment transactions and the business consumers to conduct electronic payment transactions with the oligopolistic business entities. I0 SUMMARY [0006] Disclosed are arrangements directed to methods and systems for conducting business transactions involving oligopolistic entities. 15 [0006A] It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements. 10007] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a 20 computer-implemented method for providing an economic incentive to conduct a transaction using a payment processing network. An electronic authorization request message including an authorization request is sent from a terminal to an issuer via a server of the payment processing network. The authorization request message originates upon a business consumer purchasing goods or services from an oligopolistic business 25 entity using the network. The oligopolistic business entity is associated with one or more acquirers. The oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of vertical-specific budget at fewer than 10 vertical-specific suppliers. An electronic authorization response message is received at the terminal via the server, 30 indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved. The server processes the transaction if the authorization request is approved determines an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity or the business consumer for conducting the business transaction; and uses the payment processing network to provide the incentive to the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer, -3 whereby the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non-oligopolistic business entity and the business consumer. [00081 According to another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided 5 a computer readable medium comprising software code executable by a processor, the software code comprising: code for sending an electronic authorization request message including an authorization request from a terminal to an issuer via a server of a payment processing network, wherein the authorization request message originates upon a business consumer 10 purchasing goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using the network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated with one or more acquirers and wherein the oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers; and is code for receiving an electronic authorization response message at the terminal, via the server, indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved, and code for processing, by the server, the transaction if the authorization request is approved, for determining, by the server, an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity or the business consumer for conducting the business transaction; and for 20 providing, by the server, the incentive to the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer using the payment processing network, wherein the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non-oligopolistic business entity and the business consumer. 25 [00091 According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a point of sale terminal comprising: a processor and a computer readable medium coupled to the processor, the computer readable medium comprising software code executable by the processor, the software code comprising: code for sending an electronic authorization request message including an 30 authorization request to an issuer via a server of the payment processing network, wherein the authorization request message originates upon a business consumer purchasing goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using the network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated with one or more acquirers, and wherein the -4 oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers, and code for receiving, via the server, an electronic authorization response message 5 indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved, wherein the server processes the transaction if the transaction is approved, and uses the payment processing network to provide an incentive to the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer for conducting the transaction, wherein the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non-oligopolistic business entity and the 1o business consumer. 100*10] According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a method for identifying oligopolistic business entities within an industry vertical and encouraging acceptance of electronic payment transactions by the oligopolistic business is entities, the method comprising: receiving sales information on the business segment; identifying an oligopolistic business entity and a group of business consumers within the industry vertical based on the sales information wherein the oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business 20 consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers; and providing an economic incentive to the oligopolistic business entity via the payment processing network after the oligopolistic business entity agrees to accept electronic payment transactions for conducting business with the group of business consumers, the 25 payment transactions being conducted using a payment processing network. [00111 According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a computer-implemented method for providing an economic incentive to conduct a transaction using the payment processing network, the method comprising: receiving an 30 electronic authorization request message from a terminal via a server of the payment processing network, wherein the authorization request message originates upon a business consumer purchasing goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using the network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated with one or more acquirers and wherein the oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry - 4a vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spreads over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers; and sending an electronic authorization response message indicating that the authorization 5 request is approved or not approved to the terminal via the server, processing, by the server, the transaction if the authorization request is approved, determining, by the server, an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity of the business consumer for conducting the business transaction, and providing, by the server, the incentive to the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer, using the payment processing network wherein 1o the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non-oligopolistic business entity and the business consumer. [00121 According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a computer readable medium comprising software code executable at a processor, the is software code comprising: code for receiving an electronic authorization request message from a terminal, via a payment processing network, wherein the authorization request message originates upon a business consumer purchasing goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using the network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated with one or more acquirers, and wherein the oligopolistic business entity 20 operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers; and code for sending an authorization response message indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved to the terminal via the server, processing, by the 25 server, the transaction if the authorisation request is approved, determining by the server, an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity of the business consumer for conducting the business transaction using the payment processing network, and providing, by the server, an incentive to the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer using the payment processing network, wherein the incentive would not be available in a 30 transaction between a non-oligopolistic business entity and the business consumer.
- 4b 100 12A] According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a server computer comprising: a processor, and a computer readable medium coupled to the processor, the computer readable medium comprising software code executable by the 5 processor, the software code comprising: code for receiving an electronic authorization request message from a terminal, wherein the authorization request message originates from a business consumer purchasing goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using a payment processing network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated with one or 10 more acquirers, and wherein the oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical specific suppliers; and code for sending an electronic authorization response message to the terminal is indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved, for processing the transaction if the authorisation request is approved, for determining an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity of the business consumer for conducting the business transaction using the payment processing network, and for providing the incentive to the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer for using the payment processing 20 network, wherein the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non oligopolistic business entry and the business consumer. [0012B] According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a payment processing network comprising a server computer readable medium, the 25 computer readable medium comprising code executable by a processor, the software code comprising: code for communicating an electronic authorization request message including an authorization request from a terminal to an issuer, wherein the authorization request message originates upon a business transaction in which a business consumer purchases 30 goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using the network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated an acquirer and wherein the oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers; and - 4c code for communicating an authorization response message from the issuer to the acquirer indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved, for determining an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity of the business consumer 5 for conducting the business transaction using the payment processing network, for processing the transaction if the request is approved and for providing the incentive the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer, wherein the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non-oligopolistic business entity and the business consumer. I0 [0012C] According to still another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a system comprising: a payment processing network comprising a server computer comprising a computer readable medium, the computer readable medium comprising code for: is communicating an electronic authorization request message including an authorization request from a terminal to an issuer associated with a business consumer, wherein the authorization request message originates from a transaction in which the business consumer purchases goods or services from an oligopolistic business entity using the network, wherein the oligopolistic business entity is associated with an acquirer, and 20 wherein the oligopolistic business entity operates within a target industry vertical, wherein over a majority of the business consumers within the target industry vertical spend over 50% of a vertical-specific budget at fewer than ten vertical-specific suppliers; and communicating an electronic authorization response message from the issuer to the acquirer indicating that the authorization request is approved or not approved, processing 25 the transaction if the authorisation request is approved, determining an economic incentive for the oligopolistic entity of the business consumer for conducting the business transaction using the payment processing network, and providing an incentive the oligopolistic business entity or the business consumer using the network, wherein the incentive would not be available in a transaction between a non-oligopolistic business 30 entity and the business consumer.
- 4d [00131 These and other aspects of the invention are described in further detail below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS s [0014] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the relationship between manufacturers, distributors including oligopolistic business entities, business consumers, and individual consumers. 100151 FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system including an oligopolistic business 10 entity, an acquirer, a payment processing network, an issuer, and a business consumer. [00161 FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the invention. 5 100171 FIG. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the invention. 10018] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the invention.
WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 DETAILED DESCRIPTION [00191 Embodiments of the invention are directed to the use of electronic payment transactions (e.g., credit card, debit card, electronic settlement transactions) in commercial transactions between oligopolistic business entities and business consumers. In many business segments, such as the restaurant industry, the gas station industry, the retail industry, and various service industries, there exist vertical supply chains for primary supplies or stock in trade. These vertical supply chains are sometimes referred to as industry "verticals." For example, the restaurant industry embraces a vertical supply chain for food products, the gas station industry embraces a vertical supply chain for gasoline, and the electronics retail industry embraces a vertical for stock electronics equipment. Business consumers within industry verticals are supplied by vertical-specific suppliers that specialize in the good or service of the industry vertical. For example, a vertical-specific supplier provides gasoline to gas stations, but does not sell gasoline directly to the general public. [00201 Many of the vertical supply chains are dominated by a few concentrated vertical-specific suppliers, which collectively dominate the industry vertical and may be referred to as oligopolistic business entities. For example, in the vertical supply chain for gasoline, a large percentage of the gasoline purchased by individual gas stations are sold by a few branded refineries, such as Conoco, Phillips, Texaco, BP, Chevron, etc. Therefore, oligopolistic business entities within a vertical supply chain may collectively account for a large percentage of the total sales to business consumers in the industry vertical and may be relatively few in number. It follows therefore that business consumers within an industry vertical dominated by a relatively few oligopolistic business entities spend a large percentage of their vertical-specific (i.e., primary supply related) expenses at just a few different suppliers. [0021] It should be understood that industry verticals may also be limited by geography or by organizational constraints. For example, the vertical supply chain for concrete may be regional in nature. Therefore, the concrete vertical in the state of California may be defined as a discrete industry vertical having its own group of oligopolistic business entities. Similarly, organizational constraints may also produce a discrete industry vertical within an organization. For example, if McDonald's franchisees are limited to purchasing WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 primary supplies' from a pre-authorized group of suppliers, the food product vertical within the McDonald's franchise may be defined as a discrete industry vertical having its own group of oligopolistic business entities. [0022] In one approach, target industry verticals are first identified in which business consumers spend a majority of their primary supply budget at a relatively few number of suppliers. For example, industry verticals are identified where a large percentage (e.g., over 1/2, over 2/3, over 3/4, over 90%) of the business consumers spend over 1/2 of their primary supply budget (i.e., vertical-specific expenses) at their top 10 vertical-specific suppliers. Once a target industry vertical is identified, oligopolistic business entities within the vertical may be a group of top suppliers in the vertical (as measured by annual dollar amount in sales). For example, the group of top suppliers may be a group of the top 10, five, or three suppliers in the vertical. Alternatively, the group of top suppliers may be a top percentile of suppliers in the vertical (e.g., top 20%, top 10%, top 5%). Other exemplary approaches for defining the group of oligopolistic business entities are set forth below, which may be used in conjunction with the aforementioned method of first identifying a target industry vertical, but may also be used independently thereof. [0023] In another approach, oligopolistic business entities within a particular industry vertical may be defined as a group of the top suppliers in the vertical (as measured by annual dollar amount in sales) that collectively account for over a threshold percentage of the sales to business consumers in the vertical. In one example, the group of top suppliers may account for over 80% of the sales in the vertical. In another example,.the group of top suppliers may account for over 2/3 of the sales in the vertical. In another example, the group of top suppliers may account for over 1/2 of the sales in the vertical. In another example, the group of top suppliers may account for over 1/3 of the sales in the vertical. Therefore, a number of top suppliers make up the group of oligopolistic business entities, which collectively account for over a threshold percentage of the sales to business consumers in the industry vertical. [0024] In another approach, the group of oligopolistic business entities may be defined as no more than a set number of top suppliers that collectively account for the aforementioned threshold percentage of sales in the vertical (e.g., over 80%, 2/3, 1/2, 1/3). For example, the group may include no more than 10 top suppliers that collectively account for the threshold percentage of sales. In another example, the group may include no more WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 than five top suppliers that collectively account for the threshold percentage of sales. In another example, the group may include no more than three top suppliers that collectively account for the threshold percentage of sales. [0025] In another approach, the group of oligopolistic business entities may be defined as no more than a set percentage of top suppliers, as rounded to the whole number, that collectively account for the aforementioned threshold percentage of sales in the vertical. For example, the group may include the top 20% of the suppliers in the vertical that collectively account for the threshold percentage of sales, as rounded to the whole number. In another example, the group may include the top 10% of suppliers in the vertical that collectively account for the threshold percentage of sales. In another example, the group may include the top 5% of suppliers in the vertical that collectively account for the threshold percentage of sales. [0026] In another approach, the group of oligopolistic business entities is not determined by reference to a threshold percentage of sales in the vertical, and is made up of the top suppliers in the vertical as measured by annual dollar amount in sales. For example, the group may include the top ten, five, or three suppliers in the vertical, or the top 20%, 10%, or 5% of suppliers in the vertical (as rounded to whole numbers). [00271 One illustrative example of a group of oligopolistic business entities within a vertical supply chain is provided with reference to FIG. 1. For the sake of concreteness, the example will refer to a vertical supply chain for fast food products. In particular, vertical supply chain 100 includes manufacturers 110, which in this instance may refer to various agricultural corporations and industrial food producers that cooperate to mass produce fast food products, such as hamburger patties, hamburger buns, french fries, ketchup, soda, and cheese slices. Distributors 120 are suppliers of food products to business consumers 130 in the industry vertical (e.g., fast food restaurants such as Burger King, KFC, McDonald's) and may include major food suppliers such as Sysco, Franchise Foods, McLane, Valley Food Service, Pepsi, U.S. Food Service, etc. Business consumers 130, which may be part of a franchise or trade association, in turn offer their products (e.g., hamburgers, fries, and sodas) to the general public and conduct transactions with individual consumers 140. [0028] If, for example, Sysco and Franchise Foods are the top two suppliers in the vertical as measured by annual sales and collectively (but not individually) account for over 80% of the fast food products sold to fast food restaurants in the vertical, then by one WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 definition, they are the "Oligopolistic Business Entities" in the fast food vertical. Other fast food suppliers would then fall under the label of "Other Distributors," who collectively vie for less than 20% of the market share in the vertical. Of course, it should be understood in view of the foregoing alternative definitions for the group of oligopolistic business entities that there may be many different ways of defining the group oligopolistic business entities in any vertical supply chain. [0029] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary system for processing electronic payment transactions in the context of transactions conducted between an oligopolistic business entity and a business consumer. The system includes a payment processing network 34 (e.g., VisaNet) that allows various entities to communicate with each other. Payment processing network 34 may include one or more server computers that include processors and computer readable media for performing the functions of the network. A business consumer 38 may purchase goods or services from an oligopolistic entity 42 using a POS terminal 40. POS terminal 40 may be any suitable terminal configured to process credit card or debit card transactions, or electronic settlement transactions, and may have optical, electrical, or magnetic readers for reading data from other portable consumer devices. such as smart cards, keychain devices, etc. Other examples of portable consumer devices include cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, payment cards, security cards, access cards, smart media, transponders, and the like. POS terminal 40 may include a processor and computer readable medium having code for instructing the processor to conduct the transaction. The POS terminal 40 could alternatively be a client computer terminal without a reader for reading data from a portable consumer device such as a payment card. For example, the POS terminal 40 would be a client computer terminal with a display. The business consumer 38 could fill out a form on the display to request authorization for the payment for goods or services provided by the oligopolistic entity 42. [0030] FIG. 2 also shows an acquirer 44 associated with the oligopolistic entity 42, and an issuer 48 associated with the business consumer 38. The acquirer 44 and the issuer 48 communicate via the payment processing network 34 and are therefore operatively coupled to the payment processing network 34. As used herein, an "acquirer" is typically a business entity, e.g., a commercial bank, that has a business relationship with an oligopolistic entity. An "issuer" is typically a business entity (e.g., a bank) which has a business relationship with the business consumer and holds the financial accounts of the business consumer (e.g., holds a credit card account and issues a portable consumer device such as a payment card to the WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 business consumer). Some entities such as American Express perform both issuer and acquirer functions. Embodiments of the invention encompass such single entity issuer acquirers. Additional details about various elements including issuers, acquirers, portable consumer devices, etc. can be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 11/266,766, filed on November 2, 2005, and Application No. 10/020,466, filed on October 29, 2001, which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [00311 Referring to FIG. 2, in embodiments of the invention, an authorization request message is created after a business consumer 38 interacts with an oligopolistic entity 42 and enters into a business transaction to purchase goods or services using a point of sale terminal 40. The business consumer 38 preferably uses a portable consumer device such as a credit card, a debit card, a reloadable card, or a data-access card to pay for the good or service. The authorization request message can be sent from the POS terminal 40 located at the oligopolistic business entity, or in communication with, the oligopolistic entity. The authorization request message is then sent to the oligopolistic entity's acquirer 44, to the payment processing network 34, and then to thebusiness consumer's issuer 48. [00321 As used herein, an "authorization request message" can include a request for authorization to conduct an electronic payment transaction. It may include one or more of an account holder's payment account number, currency code, sale amount, merchant transaction stamp, acceptor city, acceptor state/country, etc. An authorization request message may be protected using a secure encryption method, e.g., 128-bit SSL or equivalent-in order to prevent data from being compromised. [00331 Typically, an electronic payment transaction is authorized if the business consumer 38 conducting the transaction has sufficient funds or credit to conduct the transaction. Conversely, if there are insufficient funds or credit in the business consumer's account, or if the business consumer's portable consumer device is on a blacklist (e.g., it is indicated as stolen), then an electronic payment transaction may not be authorized. Similarly, an "authorization response message" stating whether the transaction has been authorized or not authorized is sent, for example, from the issuer to the payment processing network 34, to the acquirer 44, to the oligopolistic business entity 42, and to the POS terminal 40. [00341 If the transaction is approved, a conventional clearing and settlement process may then take place. For example, at the end of the day, the oligopolistic business entity 42 may provide a merchant deposit file to the acquirer 44. The merchant deposit file contains WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 information regarding the current day's electronic transactions. The acquirer 44 may then send an interchange file to the payment processing network 34 along with appropriate interchange codes. Different transactions may be processed for different interchange fees depending on the interchange code. Appropriate interchange codes and transactions details are then forwarded from the payment processing network 34 to the issuer 48. The issuer 48 may then adjust the consumer's account as appropriate and send payment to the acquirer 44. [00351 In a usual transaction, for example, between a business consumer and a non oligopolistic business entity, a usual interchange fee is used to compensate the issuing bank 48 for the transaction. An "interchange fee" is a fee that is paid by an acquirer to an issuer for transactions that are processed. An "interchange" process is the standardized electronic exchange of financial and non-financial data associated with sale and credit data between merchant acquirers and account issuers. The interchange process typically occurs at the end of the day, after all financial transactions for that day have been completed. It is part of the clearing and settlement part of the payment process, as opposed to the authorization part of the payment process. Interchange processes are described in U.S. Patent Application No. 11/266,766, filed on November 2, 2005, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. [0036] Due to the shear volume of business conducted between oligopolistic business entities and business consumers, economic incentives may be offered to induce oligopolistic business entities to accept electronic payment transactions for their sales and for business consumers to use electronic payment transactions for their purchases. [0037] In one approach, when an oligopolistic business entity accepts electronic payment transactions for their transactions with business consumers, it is possible to provide for a transaction fee that is different than the usual interchange fee for transactions occurring between, for example, an individual consumer and a merchant or a business consumer and a non-oligopolistic business entity. If, for example, a usual interchange fee for an individual consumer purchase is 4% of the amount purchased, the transaction fee (also referred to as the preferred interchange fee) may be less than 4% for a transaction between a business consumer and an oligopolistic business entity since the transaction is generally for a larger amount. The preferred interchange fee may be one that is pre-negotiated between the business consumer 38 (and/or its affiliated organization), the oligopolistic entity 42, and an entity (e.g., Visa) that operates the payment processing network 34. Other economic WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 incentives, such as co-promotion of products and services, assistance in new customer acquisition, fraud loss mitigation and credit underwriting, may also be offered instead of or in conjunction with the preferred interchange fee. Thus, by giving an economic incentive-(e.g., in the form of a preferred interchange fee) to an oligopolistic business entity for accepting electronic payment transactions, it is more likely that the oligopolistic business entity will accept electronic payment transactions. [0038] In another approach, when a business consumers uses an electronic payment transaction with an oligopolistic business entity, an economic incentive may be offered to the business consumer that is not otherwise available. For example, if a business consumer conducts a credit card transaction with a non-oligopolistic business entity (e.g., an Italian restaurant), no economic incentive is available. However, if a business consumer conducts a credit card transaction with an oligopolistic business entity that supplies gasoline, an economic incentive is offered. Exemplary incentives may be a percentage cash back on the transaction with the oligopolistic business entity, or some other reward or rebate program that only rewards transactions with oligopolistic business entities (e.g., as identified by the account issuer). Other economic incentives, such as co-promotion of products and services, assistance in new customer acquisition, fraud loss mitigation and credit underwriting, may also be offered. Thus, by giving an economic incentive to a business consumer for using electronic payment transactions with oligopolistic business entities, it is more likely that the business consumer will use electronic business transactions to purchase its primary supplies from oligopolistic business entities. Of course, it should be understood that economic incentives may be offered to both the oligopolistic business entity and the business consumer in a transaction to encourage use of electronic payment methods. [0039] In another approach, the use of electronic payment methods (e.g., payment card, portable consumer device, and electronic settlement transactions) can be introduced to a group of business consumers through an organization, such as a franchise or business association, associated with the group of business consumers. For example, the use of electronic payment methods may be introduced to franchisees (McDonald's franchisees) through a business franchisor (e.g., McDonald's corporate headquarters). [0040] In particular, many franchises or business associations have lists of approved suppliers for their franchisees. In one approach, oligopolistic business entities from the list of approved suppliers can be contacted and offered economic incentives when accepting WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 electronic payment transactions. Once the oligopolistic business entities have agreed to accept electronic payment transactions, the franchise or business association may be approached and informed that major suppliers from their list of approved suppliers have agreed to accept electronic payment transactions. Financial accounts, such as payment card based accounts, may then be offered to the franchise or association members that are accepted by the oligopolistic business entities for electronic payment. Economic incentives may also be offered for using the financial accounts in electronic payment transactions conducted with the aforementioned oligopolistic business entities. The financial accounts may also be co-branded by the franchise or business association to promote its use. For example, a Visa card issued by Bank of America may be co-branded by McDonald's for use by all of its franchisees in making purchases from authorized suppliers. [0041] This method is particularly effective as only a small number of oligopolistic business entities and a small number of franchises or business associations in a given business segment need to be contacted to convince them to use electronic payment methods for their business transactions. Because the number of potential parties to be contacted is small, it is practicable to offer economic incentives in transactions involving this small number of potential parties so as to capture a large percentage of the economic activity in the vertical supply chain. And although there is a small number of potential parties, this small number of potential parties can generate a high volume of sales and can make an existing payment card processing system such as VisaNet useful and efficient. [0042] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart according to an embodiment of the invention. For example, the embodiment may be practiced by a POS terminal (e.g., terminal 40 of FIG. 2) or other client computer device, which may be situated at the location of the oligopolistic business entity. The flowchart illustrates a method including sending an authorization request message (step 12) for a business transaction, receiving the authorization response message (step 14), and if the response message indicates that the transaction is approved, performing an interchange process (step 16). In the interchange process, the issuing bank is paid a fee for facilitating the purchase transaction. The interchange process may be performed as part of a clearing and settlement process. [0043] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart according to another embodiment of the invention. For example, the embodiment may be practiced by a server computer situated at an issuer. The flowchart illustrates a method including receiving an authorization request message (step WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 22) for a business transaction. The authorization request message is processed to determine if the request is approved or not approved (step 24). An authorization response message is then sent stating that the request is approved or not approved (step 26). [0044] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart according to another embodiment of the invention in which oligopolistic business entities and a group of business consumers within an industry vertical are identified'and encouraged to use electronic payment methods. Sales information on the industry vertical is received (step 232). An oligopolistic business entity and a group of business consumers within the industry vertical are identified based on the sales information (step 234). An economic incentive is provided to the oligopolistic business entity after the oligopolistic business entity agrees to accept electronic payment transactions for conducting business with the group of business consumers (step 236). Payment card based financial accounts are offered to the group of business consumers, wherein the group of business consumers is informed that the oligopolistic business entity has agreed to accept the payment card based financial accounts for payment (step 238). An economic incentive is provided to the group of business consumers for conducting electronic payment transactions with the oligopolistic business entity, wherein the incentive would not be available in a transaction between the business consumer and a non-oligopolistic business entity (step 240). [00451 The software components or functions described in this application, may be implemented as software code to be executed by a processor using any suitable computer language such as, for example, Java, C++ or Perl using, for example, conventional or object oriented techniques. The software code may be stored as a series of instructions, or commands on a computer readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive or a floppy disk, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM. Any such computer readable medium may reside on or within a single computational apparatus, and may be present on or within different computational apparatuses within a system or network. [00461 As used herein, a "server computer" or "host computer" may be embodied by one or more computational apparatuses, which can service the requests of one or more client computers. Typically, a server computer or host computer is a powerful computer or cluster of computers that behave as a single computer. For example, the server computer can be a mainframe computer, a minicomputer, or a minicomputer cluster. In another example, the server computer may include one or more database servers and one or more Web servers.
WO 2007/075994 PCT/US2006/048983 The server computer may service the requests of one or more client computers, and may comprise a computer readable medium. [00471 The present invention can be implemented in the form of control logic in software or hardware or a combination of both. The control logic may be stored in an information storage medium as a plurality of instructions adapted to direct an information processing device to perform a set of steps disclosed in embodiment of the present invention. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the present invention. [00481 The above description is illustrative but not restrictive. Many variations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the pending claims along with their full scope or equivalents. [00491 A recitation of "a", "an" or "the" is intended to mean "one or more" unless specifically indicated to the contrary. [00501 All patents, patent applications, publications, and descriptions mentioned above are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. None is admitted to be prior art.